First Quarter Newsletter!
April 2011
Streetscape
Pathways
Beautification
Making Cashiers a Promoting landscaping
more walkable and and street tree projects
friendly place. to keep Cashiers green.
Cashiers:
A Great
Good Place
Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place is a study of
the informal gathering places that are essential to
community and public life. Cashiers, in its entirety, is
such a place as compared to the experience of life in larger
cities. We need to understand what the elements of our
“great good place” are and how to help them thrive.
Third Places
If you consider your home as your “first place”,
your office as your “second place”, then third places
are all the other locations you find yourself doing
errands, relaxing, eating out, discussing, meeting,
etc. In Cashiers, these important places may include
the post office, the coffee shops, the drug store, the
restaurants, but in our case it probably includes
most all of the other shops and stores as well, the
nurseries, antique shops, outdoor shops... Whether
you’re a local or a summer resident, it’s in these
places that you see and visit with friends and
strangers for a few minutes or an hour or more.
The benefits of these interactions are immeasurable,
Oldenburg writes. The best third places are
Leadership at the Center of Cashiers"
Water & Sewer
Traffic Relief
Coordination
Planning for the future Leading to ensure a safe
while preserving our and healthy public
relaxing pace of life. utility system.
inclusive and local and in this way serve to unite a
community by allowing “everybody to know just
about everybody”. Third places directly affect how
we treat and act towards one another:
Third place regulars “do for one another,” as they
would for blood relatives and old friends. They give
things they no longer need; they loan items they still
want; they do what they can to relieve hardship when
it befalls “one of the gang.” When someone doesn’t
“show” for a couple of days, somebody goes around to
check on them.
Public Characters
Third places are more inclusive and local when they
are run by the owners themselves - usually the case
in Cashiers. Owner/operators have an incentive to
be welcoming and are in many cases the first local
that a summer guest will meet upon arrival. Public
characters also include the retired and elderly in a
community. “Third places provide a means for
[OLUL^*HZOPLYZ=PSSHNL*V\UJPSVMÄJL
Housing Diversity Vernacular Design
Working to maintain a Preserving the
variety of housing distinctive look and feel
options in the area. of Cashiers’ structures.
retired people to remain in contact with those still
working and for the oldest generation to associate
with the youngest.” Having pride in the
community also affords a self-policing mechanism.
Public characters “keep an eye” on what’s
happening - alerting parents of a rude child,
gathering a loose dog, reporting an unlocked door,
etc. A feeling of mutual trust and comfort develops
within a community where third places thrive and
public characters emerge.
Building Blocks
I once asked a friend visiting from Spain what his
impression of our country was and how it was
different from Spain. His response was disturbingly
succinct given its depth, “Here you live inside, in
Spain we live outside.” In nine words, he
highlighted a cultural trend that many see
happening across America - we are having fewer
and fewer daily human to human interactions and,
as a result, becoming more fearful and suspicious of
one another.
Working to protect Cashiers’ existing third places
and thoughtfully encouraging new gathering
elements is what the CVC is all about, but our six
initiatives are only the ingredients. The sense of
place here comes not from the structures in town,
but the citizens among them that call Cashiers home
- the young and old with both pride and humility,
the shared memories and dreams. Gustav Mahler
said, “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the
preservation of the fire.” Help the CVC in tending
the ever-bright flame of Cashiers.
- Jim Sibley, Executive Director
1
 First Quarter Newsletter!
NEXT BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 10TH, 9AM
CARLTON LIBRARY
AS SPRING ARRIVES
The snowy weather that marked our January
Board meeting is a far cry from the warm
days and cool nights we year-round residents
have experienced for the past few weeks. The
Council looks forward to the safe return of the
summer residents for the season. During the
past few months since our last Board
gathering, there has been plenty of activity in
which we all can take pride.
I am happy to report that we currently are
seeing active participation and results on all
six of our initiatives. Over our first two
years, we prioritized our work given various
constraints. Now, primarily due to our
hands-on community-spirited initiative
leaders, we are active in more areas than ever
before.
We are also beginning to reap the rewards of
the relationships that have been developed
over the first two years within and outside the
community. What had been an effort to
attract the attention of other organizations
and the county government has flip-flopped -
these groups now seek us out to partner on
our initiative-based work.
At the end of last year, we moved into our
new office space in the old United Community upcoming year that took into account our
Bank building. The expectation that this
would give our group a “new front door” and adopt these goals as the basis for our 2011
provide meeting space for our member groups expectations.
has been realized and, by these measures, been
a total success thus far.
With all this positive news and the rest
contained in this newsletter, do not assume
that we are hanging a “mission
accomplished” banner out any time soon.
There is a long way to go and we need your
active support now more than ever.
We are truly fulfilling our motto: Leadership
at the Center of Cashiers.
Jim Sibley,
Executive Director
2"
January Board
Meeting Highlights
Despite a large snow storm a few days prior, we had a
generous showing at the meeting that included
representation from seven of our ten member
organizations.
The 2011 Executive Committee
Cashiers remains blessed in having so many
talented and community-minded leaders. We
elected our 2011 Executive Committee members
as follows:
• Sam Lupas, Chairman
• John Stanger, Vice Chairman
• Bob Starkey, Treasurer
• Sarah Nelson, Secretary
• Sandy Hardy, At-large
Bylaw Amendments
We adopted a series of “house-cleaning”
amendments to the bylaws regarding the
executive committee names, meeting times,
service terms, and other small items. No
significant change was necessary.
2011 Initiative Goals
Prior to the meeting, we created a list of general
goals for each of our six initiatives for the
leadership capacity, funding, work-to-date, and
other issues. The Board discussed and voted to
TWSA Board Nomination
The Board approved the nomination of Tom
Sawyer to serve as the Cashiers area TWSA Board
representative. It is critical for us to have a well-
qualified partner in this position to accomplish
our 2011 goals on Water & Sewer Coordination.
The nomination process was led by a committee
of multiple member organizations and open to
anyone else to participate. Tom was subsequently
elected by the County Commissioners to the
position demonstrating the community
consensus-building capacity the Council has
developed.
April 2011
Other Items
• We voted to approve an exterior sign for our
new office space with our name and logo.
• The Board approved the cost of an
advertisement in the Chronicle to thank the
United Community Bank for the no-rent lease
of our office space.
• We adopted the name change from Work Force
Housing to “Housing Diversity” to better
reflect the purpose of this initiative.
Budget Elements
The Board voted to approve the 2011 Annual Budget
with the prior approval of the Executive Committee.
The budget projects total 2011 spending of $162,360.
Sources
We began the year with 63% of our funding
already in cash or as a commitment. Another 12%
is considered “likely” based on the relationship
we maintain with the grant giver and other
information. The remaining 25% of the funding
needed for 2011 amounts to $40,000 and we have
already established target sources and made
application for $10,000.
Uses
Pathways will again continue to be our first
capital spending priority with $60,500 planned.
Streetscape Beautification is anticipated to require
$20,000 to establish two new programs - the
Merchant’s Landscaping Program and a Street
Tree Dedication Project (see more below in the
Initiative Updates). We also have capital amounts
in place for planning exercises under Traffic Relief
and Water & Sewer Coordination - these are being
done in coordination with the County. We do not
anticipate any significant capital requirements in
the other initiative areas. Operating expenses will
remain the same as last year with the addition of
utility expenses associated with our new office all
of which totals a projected $62,860.
Headquarters
The new office of the Village Council has been
totally successful. The “optics” of us having our
own office in a visible in-town location has
already positively influenced the community’s
perception of our purpose and influence.
In our space, the Historical Society has held
multiple meetings and had a temporary
consultant office in our extra space. The Cashiers
Valley Community Council has placed their filing
cabinet in our office for safe-keeping. The office
has become a gathering place for community
matters.
General Operations Update
 First Quarter Newsletter!
A man has made at least a start on discovering
the meaning of life when he plants shade trees
under which he will never sit.
Pathways
Since Claire Cox, VP of Aptcon, a construction
services company in Cashiers, joined as the
Chairman of the Pathways Initiative, we have
become far more organized in our build-out of the
pathways. We have a bidding and approval process
in place as well as far greater contractor resources
given Claire’s network.
Since January, we have prioritized our work list into
lists with completions by May 31st and July 1st. In
addition to new path sections, we are adding a
pathways map and map boards.
By the end of May, we anticipate having the path
area behind Buck’s Coffee Shop retouched, a new
section along the storefront area near Horatio’s,
landscaped crosswalk landings, and the walking
loop at the Community Center resurfaced.
We also hope to be through with planning on a new
path section connecting the Chamber of Commerce
to the Post Office. We are working with the County
to connect the Community Center to the Post Office
via the ballfields area.
We hope to have three map boards in place by the
start of season - by the Buck’s Coffee Shop gazebo,
in the landscape island adjacent to Remax, and at
the Post Office.
Initiative Updates"
Why is a Street Tree Dedication Project important?
Streetscape Beautification
Bonnie Heinsma of the Cashiers Historical Society
accepted a leadership post as Chairman of our
Streetscape Beautification Initiative. We expect
work in this initiative area to make the biggest
impact on Cashiers during the first half of the year.
Merchant’s Program
Having developed and refined the “Cashiers in
Bloom” Streetscape Beautification Guide, we have
been busy fundraising, planning, and meeting with
groups and individuals as we anticipate printing,
distributing, and promoting storefront landscaping
to the merchants in town for the upcoming season.
The Council has teamed with the Merchant’s
Association and the Chamber of Commerce on
distribution and promotion to the local businesses.
The Council will lead three associated programs to
incentivize businesses to beautify their storefront:
design assistance, tree planting, and large project
funding partnership.
Tree Dedication Project
A legacy project, the Tree Dedications will allow for
both the preservation of our social heritage and for
the emergence of a relaxing tree canopy over the
decades to come. The Council is initiating this
project by planting new trees dedicated to the
“Founding Families of Cashiers” this spring.
April 2011
Elton Trueblood
Traffic Relief
Mike Benitez, President of Chinquapin Builders,
agreed to head up our Traffic Relief Initiative and
we have created some momentum in new areas
since his arrival.
We have discussed and learned a great deal about
the process by which NCDOT road activity is done.
We have also studied the pros and cons of
considering a roundabout at the crossroads as
introduced at the 2008 Mountain Landscapes
Initiative.
As an example of the Council being sought out as a
community partner, Gerald Green, Jackson County
Planning Director, approached us to partner on the
creation of a Community Traffic Plan. This would
look ahead about 20 years and based on various
projections outline different traffic projects
necessary to keep cars moving. By thoughtfully
approaching this early on, we will have the ability
to better manage the future of Cashiers traffic and
implement a strategy that will carefully increase
capacity while keeping the sense of place as it is
today.
We are also working with a property owner in town
to provide up to 100 new general parking spaces.
This would directly address a concern of both store
owners and patrons. Its possible that the new
parking can be open by July 4th weekend.
3
 First Quarter Newsletter!
Tradition is not the worship of ashes,
but the preservation of the fire.
Water & Sewer Coordination
Ted Smyre is a retired civil engineer who has
volunteered his time to lead our Water & Sewer
Coordination Initiative as a member of Rotary.
In late December, we were approached via Rotary
about nominating a candidate to serve on the
TWSA Board. Our member organization
representatives worked to create a list of
qualifications, interviewed multiple candidates and
ultimately developed a wide consensus for the
nomination of Tom Sawyer who was seated by the
County Commissioners in March.
In January, we were also approached along with
others by the Chairman of the County Board of
Commissioners, Jack Debnam, to consider the
option of setting up our own Cashiers utility
district.
The Council has led multiple follow-up meetings
with members and other interested community -
minded people to address both future service
capacity and setting up our own sewer district. We
established the overall goal to pursue additional
capacity per the survey response needs. And we
have outlined the potential process by which we can
meet this goal. Lastly, we have created a list of
seven concerns, questions, and requests for Tom
Sawyer to pursue in his new role as our
representative to TWSA.
4"
Why is the Cashiers Community Plan important?
Housing Diversity
At the January Board meeting, we voted to change
the name of this initiative to better reflect its
purpose: to promote greater diversity in our
housing market, coordinate existing affordable
housing providers, and pursue affordable housing
through trust facilities.
We support the continuing effort of our former
chairman in bringing together two local groups and
an outside funding source to create affordable
housing. She has previously been successful in
bringing existing agencies to work in our area.
NEXT BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 10TH, 9AM
CARLTON LIBRARY
We are currently working with the Jackson County
Planning Department on future ordinance changes
that would incentivize more housing types and
sizes as a way to meet demand for lower price
points. We have completed a presentation on Form
Based Code - a code that more closely addresses the
design concerns of new construction in our area.
April 2011
Gustav Mahler
Vernacular Design
In this our third year or operating in Cashiers, the
six initiatives have evolved to the point where it
makes sense to further engage the County Planning
Department and their resources for planning and
implementation of some of our plans.
Gerald Green, the County Planning Director, and
the Council have met to discuss the creation of a co-
led “Cashiers Community Plan.” The process which
is currently being developed will include a vision-
setting process that builds upon the work already
completed at the Mountain Landscapes Initiative
held in 2008 and develop strategies for addressing
the needs in various areas including:
• Land Use
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Economic Development
• Historical Preservation
• Streetscape/Community Landscaping
• Housing
As you can see, the Council is already the leading
entity on most of these work areas and will continue
to implement our consensus-driven vision for
protecting and preserving Cashiers’ sense of place
while providing for prudent place-appropriate
growth.
Initiative Updates (continued)